John
Jesus continues to speak to Nicodemus here in this
verse. Nicodemus has been told things by
Jesus that has confused him. Now that Nicodemus
realizes that he is not saved he is ready to be shown how to be saved. Jesus uses the story of Moses and the serpent
in the wilderness to illustrate that salvation will only occur through
faith. The people of Moses’ day had to
have faith in order to be saved from certain death. Nicodemus must trust in the son of man, the
savior in order to be saved from his condemned state. Jesus now explains the details to
Nicodemus. This detail begins with a
description of God’s love for sinful men.
God hates sin. In
connection with sin such words as wrath, indignation, fury, and anger are used
to describe God’s feelings and reaction to sin.
Concerning the days of Noah the bible says:
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man
[was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart [was]
only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made
man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I
have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping
thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me
that I have made them.
God hates sin. Hate is the opposite of Love. God hates sin. When the wickedness of
Sin is an
abomination unto God. This means that
sin is vile and sickening to God. Solomon
tells of this in Proverbs 6:16.
Pro
Pro
Pro
Pro
God hates sin. God’s soul hates wickedness and violence. Consider the following verses of scripture. They
will teach us that God condemns sin and punishes sinful men.
Psa 11:5 The LORD trieth
the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Psa 68:21 But God shall wound the head of his
enemies, [and] the hairy scalp
of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.
2Th
2Th
God is described vividly
by Isaiah as a God of wrath, anger, and fury.
Isa 63:1 Who [is] this that cometh from
Isa 63:2 Wherefore [art thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
Isa 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone;
and of the people [there was]
none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury;
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my
raiment.
Isa 63:4 For the day of vengeance [is] in mine heart, and the year of
my redeemed is come.
Isa 63:5 And I looked, and [there was] none to help; and I
wondered that [there was] none
to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it
upheld me.
Isa 63:6 And I will tread down the people in
mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their
strength to the earth.
Isa 66:15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire,
and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his
rebuke with flames of fire.
God Hates sin!
But God loves Sinners!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
He loved even though men
hated Him.
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are
evil.
John
The word "for," as used in John
The word "world,"
as used in this verse means the people of the world. God loved the people of the world. This does not at all mean that God condones
or approves of the sinfulness of man, but it does mean that God loves man in
spite of man's sin. God is a Holy God and His Holiness never allows Him to
condone sin. It never allows Him to
ignore a man's sin just because He loves the man. A parent may overlook the wrong doings of his
child because he loves his child. But
God will never overlook a man's sin just because He loves the man. God sees every sin and every sin must be
punished.
Yet God loves the world in spite of
the sin. He loves every sinner in the
whole world. He loves all the people of all the world. He
loves all races. He loves all classes:
the rich, the poor, the educated, the uneducated, the talented and the
non-talented. He loves those who live
clean moral lives. He loves those who
commit the very vilest of sins. He loves
the thief, the drunkard, the dope addict, the prostitute, the homo-sexual, the
hardened criminal and even the murderer.
Jesus said that God "...so loved the world..." The word "so" in this verse signifies intensity and
greatness. It speaks of the intensity
and greatness of God's love. God loved
lost sinners so much that He would not be content -- He could not be content without
doing all in His power to save them from the curse of sin. Therefore, God made the supreme sacrifice for
the souls of men. He gave His Son, His
only begotten Son that men might be saved.
God requires faith on the part of mankind. Men must believe in God’s Son. They must believe that Christ died for their
sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried and rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures.
Those who will believe will not perish. They will not go to the fires of
Hell. They will have instead everlasting
life. They will be born again, born from
above, renewed by the Holy Spirit of God and will one day be conformed to the
image of God’s dear Son.
God has made the sacrifice because He loves you. Will you accept His love and His payment for
your sin. Will
you accept His offer of pardon for sin and His gift of eternal life?